


5 Times That the Class Helped Their Heroes +1 Time They Helped Their Friends

by uaigneach



Series: We Weren’t Meant to be Heroes [16]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 5 Things, 5 Times, 5+1 Things, BAMF Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Chloé Bourgeois Being Chloé Bourgeois, F/M, Good Chloé Bourgeois, Hurt Adrien Agreste, Identity Reveal, Non-Canonical Violence, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Post-Reveal Love Square, Protective Alya Césaire, Protective Class, Secret Identity, Superheroes are human too, and then I swoop in with my typical fixation on injury description to bring down the mood, furries might get offended, it's hecka cracky in places, smol Adrien, the class is kinda great, this fic is a MESS, well they try their best anyways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-22 05:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14301330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uaigneach/pseuds/uaigneach
Summary: The class now knows that their friends are the civilian identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Now that they are included in the secret, it's time that they play their own roles.Alternatively: it's time that the youth of Paris start really supporting their heroes.





	1. Disappearances

**Author's Note:**

> The first five is the class helping while seeing their classmates as their heroes. The last one is acknowledging that yes, they are just teenagers. I made the cases very blurred because, in this au, the difference between hero and civilian is practically nonexistent by this point. They are secure in their personalities. 
> 
> All parts are finished but I will be updating as I get them typed up.

After the big reveal, of course, things changed. A couple of kids that none of them cared to know weren’t in the know, but they weren’t there during the meeting that Alya and Nino called either, so Adrien figured that they were in the clear. None of those outsiders ever indicated that they were a bit freaked out by the new inside joke they all had and Adrien thanked his lucky stars that they weren’t too obvious.

They knew how much was at stake here.

 

Alya and Marinette had made up after their fight, and he was still so so grateful that he’d had no problems with Nino. Nino just seemed to _get it_. It was nice.

Another nice surprise was Chloe.

She had handled the news almost as well as Nino had – arguably better considering who she was. She hadn’t told anyone, and as by far the best at pretending nothing had changed; which was why the almost was included. She had never liked Marinette, and despite Marinette turning out to be her hero – she still didn’t like the half-Chinese girl. It was because of her loyalty to Adrien that she didn’t reveal them. Well, that and it was _Ladybug._ All the same, as long as she didn’t blab, things were fine.

 

That substitute teacher had been promptly fired after her meltdown after being akumatized, and since then, no akumas had happened during school hours. There’d been a couple weekend ones from overworked minimum wage workers, and even a late-night drugging without his fix, but nothing of too much note. Nothing like the akuma with the razor blades.

However, that streak was about to end.

They’d had a new substitute teacher (Ms. Bustier was still away) for a couple days now and this one was a nice mousy girl from Quebec, so they let it be for a while. Trying to pretend that they didn’t know that he was Chat Noir must be challenging enough, without screwing with the teacher too.

He would know – he did it all the time.

Anyways, things were going fine with the new teacher. She wasn’t yet completely familiar with the French school system (why call middle school ‘collège’?!) or their akuma protocols, but that was fine with them. He didn’t much mind, not having a hardass teacher for once. Still, that simple fact came back to bite them in the butt rather spectacularly when there was an akuma attack close enough to the school to force them to evacuate

In the chaos, he had been able to slip away, and he and Marinette handled the minor akuma with ease. In a strange turn of events, the akuma was not eh problem. With Ms. Bustier, they were always able to slip seamlessly back into the crowd without their absence even being noticed by anyone.

Unfortunately, it seems that this substitute was more observant. Upon their return, the teacher was already taking attendance. “Where have you two been? We’re supposed to stay together!” the woman scolded. Adrien shifted awkwardly – they were totally busted. They arrived full minutes after the attendance was checked. They would try to explain it away by saying they panicked and got separated, but there was only their class in this part of the courtyard.

“They’re always like this Mademoiselle. Marinette probably just tripped like the big klutz she is, and they got trapped while hiding.” Chloe said suddenly, breaking the silence before either Marinette or he could speak. “Last time the two of them got stuck in our classroom.” Chloe wasn’t looking at anyone as she layered on the snooty tone. Marinette’s face heated up as she opened her mouth to snark back at her ‘rival’.

Adrien wasn’t paying attention It wasn’t obvious and if not for Chloe adamantly avoiding anybody’s gaze, then he would have missed it; assuming that Chloe was just being mean again. But that wasn’t true.

Chloe was covering for them.

 

Just like that she’d given them a convincing way out. Since they weren’t the ones excusing themselves and Chloe was very obviously not Marinette’s friend, the teacher wouldn’t assume that she was lying. If you don’t like someone, all the more reason to rat them out. And Marinette was far from Chloe’s favourite person. Anyone with eyes can see that!

The substitute looked quite disgruntled at her response. “Oh, well then…” she stammered out awkwardly, “just try to stay with the group next time?” Adrien simply offers up a sheepish expression and when the teacher turned away, sent a thankful but confused look over at his childhood friend. Chloe just smirked before continuing to make fun of Marinette with Sabrina.

Marinette blew her bangs out of her face in mock frustration before sidling up to him. “Did she just–“

“Yeah.”


	2. Post-Akuma Recovery

Another incident didn’t occur for another week or two. Ms. Bustier had returned, and everything was operating as normal. But that wasn’t really important as the next major attack actually occurred outside of school hours. It was Wednesday afternoon (classes end early on Wednesdays) and all the students were milling around various cafes and just relaxing before being forced to head home.

Marinette was away for a doctor’s appointment and then she was supposed to be hanging out with Alya, so Adrien was taking this chance to hang out with some of the guys that were now in the know. It was nice to just hang out with people without stressing about secrets again. Really, it had been too long since he’d been honest with anyone other than Plagg and Marinette. Still, like everything in Adrien’s life, the nice moment didn’t last and was interrupted by an akuma attack.

With the subtle help of Nino and Nathaniel, he was able to slip away and transform. This particular akuma didn’t seem like it would cause all that much properly damage, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t dangerous. The akuma itself was catlike – and really what had happened to cause this person to be akumatized? He was about to find out.

The akuma was prowling the streets and hissing at anyone who passed. They had a wicked set of claws and fangs that were slightly too big for their mouth. They would have looked more intimidating had they not been covered in baby pink fluffy fur that was cut almost like a poodle. Adrien resisted the urge to snort. It was never a good idea to laugh at an akuma.

He walked confidently into the nearly empty streets and discretely sent on alert to Marinette. He wouldn’t be able to finish this without her. But he could stall until she arrived. “Hey!” he called sharply and the akuma’s head snapped towards him.

“Ah… the infamous Chat Noir. Just the alley cat I wanted to see.” They hissed as they bared their teeth at him.

He quirked an eyebrow playfully. “Well, I’m here now. Say what you want – you know, kitty to kitty.” He was stalling. He needed time for Marinette to arrive and he needed the cat to not attack people.

“That’s exactly the problem! Your very existence is invalidating mine.”

Okay. That was _not_ what he’d been expecting at all. First of all, what the hell? Second of all, _what the hell?!??_ How is his mere existence invalidating someone else’s? How?? What did he do?

“What.”

The akuma looked even more agitated now. “You call yourself a cat but you’re just mocking people like me. No one takes us seriously anymore! They just automatically assume that we’re one of your lame fangirls!”

Then it dawned on him. “Wait… you’re a furry?!” The akuma puffed out their chest in pride and an attempt to look regal. Instead, they just looked like a rabid animal. “I hate to break it to you pal, but nobody was taking you seriously even before me.”

There was a soft call in the distance of “ooooh _burn_!”

 

That was very much the wrong thing to say.

Next thing he knows, the now enraged and heavily offended akuma is launching itself at him. Claws and fur were everywhere and had the akuma been more skilled, Adrien could have been easily overwhelmed by how ferocious they were. As it was he was still taking some light hits from the claws.

Luckily for him, Marinette arrived a few minutes later, and they were able to dispatch the akuma quickly enough. After a quick kiss on the head, Marinette quickly ran to get back to whatever she was supposed to be doing on the other side of the city! They’d meet up on patrol later that night anyway, and by now Adrien was used to the quick goodbyes.

He also made a quick escape into an alleyway to de-transform. He shoved an exhausted Plagg into a side pocket of his backpack just in time for the other boys to come careening into the alleyway.

Adrien for his part, was also pretty tired – hand to hand combat was exhausting and usually only lasted about a couple minutes tops, but this one had dragged on due to the enhanced akuma – and so his classmates found him leaning heavily against the brick wall. He was panting slightly as he awkwardly sat down, feeling the blood trickle from his various scratches. Those would be troublesome to deal with alone.

He hadn’t even realized that he’d closed his eyes until there was a light tapping on the side of his face. He lazily opened his eyes to see a worried Nino holding up an open water bottle. “That was some fight dude. Here, drink.” He said softly, offering the water bottle. Adrien’s hand shook as he grabbed the drink, but he appreciated it all the same.

“Thanks, Nino.” He rasped before taking a deep drink from the bottle.

“That was really cool bro!” Kim declared suddenly, staring at him with wide-eyed awe. Adrien smiled weakly.

“Thanks, Kim. I try.”

His eyes flitted over towards Nathaniel who was rummaging through his bag for something. With a small triumphant cry, he pulled a small first aid kit out of the bag. “It’s nowhere near as good as the ones you and Marinette have, but this should do the job well enough for now. Let’s see your injuries.” And then Nathaniel was invading his space armed with bandages, gauze, and alcohol swabs.

Luckily for him (and Nathanial’s minimal first aid skills) Adrien just had some shallow cuts. Nothing that a few butterfly plasters wouldn’t fix.


	3. Quick Patch-Ups

As soon as Marinette got back to her room, she collapsed into her desk chair. If she was winded after dealing with that akuma, then she couldn’t imagine how much that must have sucked for Adrien. She’d have to remember to give him some food later. She de-transformed and plopped an equally exhausted Tikki by a plate of cookies. Closing her eyes in exhaustion, she leaned back in her chair.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?!”

Marinette’ eyes snapped open as she suddenly remembered that Alya was still over. She moved to sit up but ended up groaning due to some muscles betraying her. She was really feeling that hand to hand fight. Well, that and that cat had sharp claws.

She watched as Alya proceeded to practically fly across the room to get to the bathroom, coming back with her arms filled with the basic first aid kit that Marinette kept on the bathroom counter. She’d picked that one up a drug store just last week – it was still unopened. “You really gotta be more careful, you know?” Alya scolded as she ripped off the plastic covering on the kit. “One of these days you’ll be too injured to hide it behind your clumsiness.”

Marinette smiled awkwardly at her friend. She’d been able to hide temporarily broken limbs with the excuse of falling down the stairs while in a rush. People had seen things like that happen, s it wasn’t exactly out of place. “It’s just some small cuts and scrapes, Alya. Tikki took care of the rest and they’ll even be gone by tomorrow!” She protested weakly.

Alya was having none of it and had pulled out some hydrogen peroxide, cotton swabs, and a handful of band-aids. “We should still clean them out at the very least!” Alya scolded as she began to do just that.

“Ouch Alya! Be gentler!”

“Oh, you big baby. You can literally break bones and be fine, but cleaning out a papercut gets you.”

“Adrenaline, Alya! Adrenaline!”


	4. Covering Up Scars

Problem number one: the class had a mandatory swimming unit. Problem number two: Adrien didn’t exactly have the perfect model body anymore. Sure he was still toned and lithe, but that wasn’t exactly the problem anymore. After years of hits – though Plagg helped minimize the damage – he had many not so nice scars. The class may know who he is, but seeing it was another thing.

Nathaniel, Kim, and Nino had helped patch him up once, but the cuts had only been on his arms and lower legs. They haven’t seen his back or anything like that.

And then there was the fact that Ms. Bustier and whoever was their gym coach didn’t know about their… special extracurricular activities. As a teacher, they are in a position of trust, and it’s their duty to report if they suspect abuse or some shit. Adrien doesn’t blame them for feeling that obligation, but while it was true that Gabriel Agreste was a crappy and absent father, he wasn’t physically abusive; verbal could be debated. Adrien often felt more like an employee than a son, and there was a reason for that.

Also, Gabriel would ask too many questions about the scars. Unlike Marinette’s parents, Gabriel didn’t know about his superpowered son. Having the rumours going around that Gabriel Agreste had been abusing his son would completely piss off his father, which would then lead to more questions from everyone.

So yeah, Adrien was panicking a little bit. He could get away with wearing a shirt – most of the class would know why and not kick up a fuss about it, and even with the cling, the scars wouldn’t be evident. But his arms were a different story. There was no way that he could blame the scars on fencing accidents because they were very obviously not. Some were shaped like hands, and they all stood out against his slightly tanned skin. They would be visible even below the water’s edge.

Marinette wasn’t much better off, but at least she was pale. Her back and shoulders would be exposed though, even in her one piece... The only saving grace there was, was that Marinette’s scars were smaller and blended in better with her skin tone. You had to actually look to find them.

He had less than 10 minutes until he needed to be back to the pool for class, and he didn’t know what he was planning on doing. He was the only one left in the change room other than Nathaniel and Max, and they were almost ready to leave. In fact, just as Max opened the door to leave, someone stormed in, whipping the door farther in, in their hurry. “Ugh! This room is disgusting! I don’t know how you  can stand this, Adrikins.” Chloe then. But how’d she get in here?

Max squeaked rather loudly at her presence and rushed out of the changing room, but Nathaniel just continued digging through his bag, so Adrien ignored him for now. “Chloe? What are you doing here?” he was confused and he was running out of time to find a way to get out of the situation he’d found himself in.

Chloe cocked her hip to the side before looking over at Nathaniel. “Well, unlike you, it appears, as soon as we heard about the swim unit, we began planning. Nathaniel, you brought what I asked of you, right?” Nathaniel nodded as he pulled out a pack of makeup brushes and a couple foundation bottles. Nathaniel quickly brought them over and Adrien caught the words ‘EXTREMEM SPORTS – WATERPROOF’ emblazoned across the side. He had a feeling that he knew where Chloe was going with this.

“You even remembered my shade.” He remarked as Chloe immediately began to tear into the packages that the red-headed artist handed her.

“Of course I remembered your shade. Now shut up and let me fix you up. We don’t have much time and your girlfriend is still freaking out in the girl’s changing room. Honestly, she should be grateful, you have no idea how hard it is to find make up that pale. Especially stuff that’s waterproof and heavy duty.” Chloe ranted as she furiously began to cover all of his scars in the product. “She’s just lucky that Juleka and Alya know how to blend, honestly have you seen Marinette’s eyeshadow job? I’m thinking that she only uses her freckles as an excuse to not wear foundation.” 

Nathaniel just quietly helped her cover his other arm with a soft smile. “I paint, I figure makeup – well covering scars really – can’t be much different.” He offered as Chloe  ranted at him. “There’s two people helping Marinette, but any other grils making their way in her ewould raise too many eyebrows. Everyone knows you and Chloe are close… and no one can really  argue with her anyways… so it’s no problem.”

Adrien grinned weakly at him as he stood awkwardly. “I really appreciate this guys.” He said quietly.

Chloe pursed her lips, taking a step back to look at her handiwork. “Well, we’ll see in an hour how this holds up.”

 

The make up help surprisingly well. That is until the lesson was over. When Adrien pulled himself out of the water, he knew that it had started to wear off. Luckily it wasn’t too much, and there were only some faint scars showing.

Unluckily, Coach Lenoue noticed. “Agreste! What on earth is on your arms?” he boomed, moving to take a closer look t Adrien’s arm. He immediately slid a hand over his arm and lost his ability to lie in his panic. “Uhhh…” and that’s when Chloe came to the rescue yet again.

“Ew!” she shrieked. “Adrien, _why_ have you not been exfoliating?! Your father is going to kill you if your complexion isn’t perfect.” He began to blush, shifting awkwardly.

“I’ve just been really busy,” he shrugged.

Chloe sniffed angrily. “I’ll schedule a spa day. Sabrina!” And then she stalked off towards the changing room. The guys kept snickering as they all began to herd Adrien towards the men’s changing rooms and right past a confused Coach Lenoue. They kept joking lightly up until the door closed behind them, where they all (including Adrien_ sagged against the walls in relief.

“That was close,” he sighed heavily, moving over to shower off the chlorine and makeup.

Nino laughed breathlessly. “Yeah, if Chloe hadn’t stepped in…” he shook the water from his head like a dog. “Well, my plan had been to just get everyone to claim that they saw nothing and somehow convince Coach Lenoue that he was seeing things.”

“That’s incredibly stupid, Nino.”

“It would have worked!”


	5. The Press

Somehow, they’d ended up in this situation all over again.

Here they were, months after the original inciting incident, and it was happening all over again. They had been fighting an akuma when suddenly, it had gotten violent and collateral was just climbing higher and higher. The miraculous had limits, but the press always seemed to forget that.

For the most part, the citizens of Paris had done their best to not get in the way. Marinette and Adrien both greatly appreciated this and were put a bit more at ease when they saw that their class (because of fucking course it happened during school hours) were ushering the stragglers while also trying to protect themselves. There was still the worry about civilians, but they seemed to have enough self-preservation instincts that they could afford to focus more on the actual battle.

All the same, the press was being annoying, having arrived before the police did, so they along with their classmates were inside the makeshift police border. They were too far away for the police to risk trying to evacuate them. One of the policemen had actually been thrown when trying to sneak in to snag a cameraman. That had stopped the authorities from trying to interfere with anything past their makeshift border.

They trusted Chat Noir and Ladybug to do their best to minimalize the collateral – to a certain extent.

The previous incident hadn’t quite faded away from recent memory, but the tentative relationship that was being regained between the two miraculous wielders and the civilian authorities meant that they sort of had to step back when they knew they were out of their depth. Turning on the two people that can actually _do_ something about the akumas wouldn’t be smart.

Some politicians had complained that they shouldn’t just be allowing teenage vigilantes to do whatever they want, but Mayor Bourgeois shut that down as best he could. The unspoken fear of what would happen without Ladybug to fix anything (and god forbid one of the heroes ever gets akumatized) was obvious. Still politicians had never fully approved of their involvement, but with such popularity among the populous and their usefulness outweighing their annoyance factor, they couldn’t really do anything.

However, with that reporter suffering such a public and violent death, there’d been some support in the ‘hold the so-called-heroes responsible for collateral’ faction. There’d been deaths before, but never one so apparent. There was a good amount of people who were beginning to question why they were trusting their lives with teenagers. Those were the people who were the most annoying in battle. They often got in the way just so that they could add fuel to the flames.

After Marinette’s blow up and with the increasing danger from akumas, it was no wonder that the faction was growing along with the fear.

It doesn’t mean that they had to like it though.

 

So once again, here they were fighting an akuma with blade-like weapons (it was Adrien’s fencing coach – another kid had failed spectacularly and blamed the coach because he was a spoiled brat) and there were nosy reporters there to wreck everything. One in particular actually.

Her name was Carlotta Rosera, and she was well known for supporting plans to control the city’s heroes and she was lucky enough to be one of the reporters hiding alongside their class. And despite the very apparent danger, she was trying to interview Alya of all people, about her thoughts on the most recent akuma attacks.

“Alya Césaire, primary admin for the renowned Ladyblog, what do you think about the danger that Ladybug and Chat Noir are exposing the citizens of Paris to every day?” she shoved her camera and microphone in Alya’s face. Alya sneered at her and shoved the camera away.

“Actually, it’s Hawkmoth who’s putting us all in danger. Ladybug and Chat noir are _protecting_ us. You’d know that if you actually read my blog, Carlotta.” Alya hissed, glaring pointedly at the camera. “And be quiet! We’re currently hiding from an akuma. It’s not safe to be making such a racket.”

Carlotta either didn’t care, or was aiming for this, because she kept pressing. “Yes, but how do you know that akumas aren’t just a set up by Ladybug and Chat Noir? It’s only on their word that anyone believes Hawkmoth exists. What if it’s one of them?!” she had a look of glee on her face like she’d just dropped a knowledge bomb or something.

Nino was quick to come to the defense. “We’ve all been akumatized before. We know the voice that whispered in our ears to take the miraculous’ from them. _You_ one the other hand, don’t know what it’s like.”

Kim joined in. “Yeah! You’re that lady who keeps arguing that the akumatized citizens should be held accountable for the damages that occurred. Back off, talk like that will only increase the akuma frequency.” Carlotta looked personally offended by them disagreeing with her.

“I’ll prove it,” she insisted acting more like someone their age as opposed to the adult that she is. And then, she did something incredibly stupid. She stood up and began to walk away from the makeshift shelter. A perfect opportunity was presented to her as Chat Noir and the akuma were sent flying past her. She grinned and practically _skipped_ over to the struggling duo.

She shoved a microphone in between their faces and proudly asked her question. “Fencing Master, are you aware that you were set up by Chat Noir and Ladybug? That there’s no actual Hawkmoth?” she grinned smugly, cocking her hip to the side and raising a challenging eyebrow. Chat Noir and Fencing Master froze in their fight. They glanced at each other for a moment before a butterfly outline appeared around the akuma’s eyes.

The akuma got a distant look on their face before suddenly he disengaged from Chat Noir and stood up to look down on the reporter. “Listen here, _Lady_. That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard, and I teach _teenagers_. Why on earth would Chat Noir and Ladybug be trying to steal their own powers? I’m a villain currently terrorizing Paris and even _I_ think you suck. So I’ll do those teen heroes a favour – just this once.”

Chat Noir managed to scramble up just in time to knock Carlotta out of the way of Fencing Master’s deadly attack. In the process, Carlotta dropped her camera and landed awkwardly on her wrist. All the same, she didn’t get impaled by a fencing sword.

Unlike Chat Noir, who had taken the blow for Carlotta and now had a sword sticking out of his shoulder.

He yelled in pain and did his best to not move that shoulder as he round-house kicked the Fencing Master into an area more accessible to Marinette. She’d just figured out how to use her lucky Charm, and after that, the battle went quickly. Chat Noir didn’t ‘even have to do anything more.

Of course, the reporters had immediately flocked a very distressed Carlotta as soon as the akuma was gone. She was sobbing and holding up her bloody palms and broken camera for all to see. “Look! Chat Noir destroyed my camera because he didn’t like that I was exposing his secrets, and then he pushed me!” she wailed, not all that, unlike the way that Chloe whines. The collection of reporters all immediately began to fawn over her.

A cameraman turned to glare at Chat Noir. “How dare you hurt a civilian for trying to show Paris the truth!” he yelled angrily, causing Adrien to take a step back at the man’s ferocity.

He opened his mouth to protest but he was interrupted by the approaching footsteps of their classmates with Chloe and Alya leading the charge. “That is a blatant lie!” Alya yelled angrily. “You pissed off the akuma and Chat Noir pushed you out of the way so that you wouldn’t be _impaled!_ Look at him! He still has a sword sticking out of his shoulder.”

They crowded around the injured hero, creating a human shield from the army of agitated reporters. “Yeah, can we get a paramedic over here?!” Nino yelled towards the police blockade. There was some shuffling as the paramedics began to finally make their way past the police barrier.

“You’d think you’d show a little gratefulness to the one who saved your life, _Carlotta_. My daddy’s the mayor you know, and Chat Noir and Ladybug didn’t incite the attacks. If I remember correctly – which I do – their first appearance was a week later when it was proven that the police couldn’t handle the villains. Now your situation Is pretty simple. Shut up, or I’ll have you blacklisted. The Bourgeois name carries a lot of weight in _and_ out of Paris.” Chloe sneered, not even bothering to look at the reporter that she was threatening, instead inspecting her nails.

“You should be grateful that you only have some cuts and scrapes. Chat Noir has a literal sword through his shoulder. I’m sure you’d rather pay for a new camera than physical therapy because your shoulder was never the same.” A stern voice came from behind the group of students. It was quickly followed by the arrival of a slightly beat up Ladybug. One of her pigtails had fallen out and there was a long and thin welt line beginning to form across her cheek and nose. “I’m pretty sure that I speak for most of Paris when I say that we’d very much appreciate it if you would stop trying to convince everyone that we’re villains. We’re teenagers – you’re an adult. It’s time that you start acting like it.”

The paramedics had finally arrived, moving over quickly to Adrien and asking about how they could help without overstepping. Marinette immediately fell back behind the protective front that their friends and classmates had formed so that she could instruct the paramedics on how best to handle her partner’s unique physiology.

Her blatant dismissal of the older woman angered her to the point where her face actually looked like a tomato. Alya took great pleasure in continuing to dismiss the woman in front of credible witnesses (a paramedic team, her classmates and her heroes). It just made it better that a neutral new outlet (no one had trouble with them because they surprisingly _were_ neutral politically and all in all else) was live streaming this. “The facts are that Chat Noir saved you at his own expense. Neither he nor Ladybug create akumas out of some misguided attempt at heroism. I know that they’d much rather that akumas didn’t exist – it’s incredibly disrupting to their normal _civilian teenage_ lives.”

She turned and grinned directly at the streaming camera, her grin widening at the sheepish look that the cameraman gave her. “Paris’ youth is with Ladybug and Chat Noir. It’s up to _you_ to form your own opinions, but I think it’s obvious that Ladybug and Chat Noir are heroes.”

The students straightened up with pride. “They defined us every day, so I think that we should be able to defend them from those that would turn people on them.” Kim suddenly pipped up.

“Yeah. Join the movement! Support Paris’ heroes.” Nathaniel grinned, ignoring some of the reporters indignant spluttering. “Drop by the Ladyblog for _accurate_ updates.”

 

Unbeknownst to the students forming the shield, ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a small smile. It was nice, having their friends stick up for them.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day there was a record number of followers of the Ladyblog and a sudden outburst of social media posts under the hashtag; #SupportOurHeroes.

Many of which, featured pictures of the teens that defended Paris’ heroes that day.


	6. +1

“Marinette! What the _hell_ is that?!” Alya very nearly shrieked as she gaped at the papers in her hands. Marinette smiled sheepishly as she snatched back her test.

“It’s just one test, Alya.” Marinette said, “and I missed that lesson, so I don’t have any idea what’s happening. In fact, I missed an entire week of lessons practically! I’ll find time to read the textbook at some point…”

Alya was not pleased, but she dropped the issue temporarily. “That’s a failing grade Mari, but if you’re sure.” Marinette didn’t see her reach for her phone.

 

* * *

 

“Alyaaaaa, why are you waking us up at 8:30 in the morning? I _just_ got Adrien back to sleep.” Marinette groaned from under a mountain of blankets, pillows, and her boyfriend. Alya snickered quietly as Nino took another picture. Adrien had his head buried in Marinette’s neck and was almost hiding under her while simultaneously curled up around her like an octopus – or well, a sleeping cat.

“Come on Mari, we have plans for today and for that, both you and Adrien need to be presentable.” Alya giggled, doing her best to unravel the mess of blankets that was supposedly a bed. “Rise and shine, your mother has coffee and breakfast waiting downstairs. Up, up! Hope in the shower. Separately, I want no funny business.” Alya teased, pleased to see that her friend still got embarrassed by Adrien related things. She sat up, violently displacing her partner and the two kwami in her haste to get up. She booked it towards the bathroom without further comment.

Without further adieu, Alya beat Adrien over the head with a pillow to wake him up. Adrien jumped up groggily and landed in a defensive crouch. He glared at the blogger who woke him up. “Alya… what is this about?” he had dark circles developing under his eyes, and to be quite frank, he looked awful. But they had one day to do this because they had a whole slew of tests and presentations that week. There was a limited amount of time for them to help.

“We’re heading over to the Bourgeois Penthouse. The others should already be heading over right about now. So get ready to go.” Nino grinned, placing his hands on his hips. “Hopefully, Marinette will be done soon so that we can get a move on. We’ve – the class, that is – assembled all of our notes and project so that we can get you guys caught up on work. It’s going to be a long day, but we’ll make damn sure that your averages get back to normal.”

It took a moment for Adrien to comprehend what they were saying but then his face lit up. “Wait, you guys organized this… for us?” he asked incredulously like he couldn’t believe that they would do that for them.

“Yup! It’ll be like one big study group and homework session!” Alya said brightly. “A class-wide truce for the entire day. We’ll even get good food because Chloe is hosting!”

“Are you going to tell Mari?”

Alya smirked. “Mari just _loves_ surprises.”


End file.
